Henry Schoenemann, who is an esteemed resident of Bunker
Hill, is a well known retired farmer of Dorchester township, Macoupin
County, where he owns a fine farm of 156 acres, situated in sections 3, 4
and 5, and is also a survivor of the great Civil War, in which he served as
a faithful soldier for three long years. Mr. Schoenemann was born in
Brunswick, Germany, June 23, 1840, and is a son of Henry and Charlotta
(Long) Schoenemann.
The parents of our subject were both born in
Germany. In 1870 they came to America and joined their son Henry. Here the
father died, two years later, aged 63 years. The mother survived until 1900,
dying at the age of 82 years. They had a family of eight children, and two
of the daughters and three of the sons found homes in the United States.
Henry Schoenemann was 19 years old when he left the port of Bremen, on a
slow sailing vessel, for the United States. After a long voyage of two and a
half months, the craft cast anchor at New Orleans in December, 1859, and as
Illinois was the State in which our subject desired to settle he came up the
Mississippi to St. Louis, and proceeded thence to Madison County, where he
immediately found farm work, by the month, and was making fair wages at the
time of the outbreak of the Civil War. On August 15, 1861, he enlisted as a
private in Company I, 8th Reg., Illinois Vol. Inf., under Col. Richard
Oglesby, afterward Governor of the State. This regiment under its gallant
commander took a conspicuous part in the campaigns of the Army of tfie
Tennessee, starting from Carlo, Illinois, taking in all the movements at
different points in Missouri, participating in the terrific battles at Fort
Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Corinth. The regiment won distinction
wherever its fighting quality was tested. It then went to Jackson,
Tennessee, thence to Meaton Station, to Bolivar and La Grange, to Hollow
Springs and Oxford, Mississippi, and other points where the railroads
required watching and guarding, then to Memphis, Lake Providence and
Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, and then to Vicksburg, meeting the fleet of
Admiral Farragut and acting in conjunction with it. The whole history of
this regiment of gallant men includes the battles which did much to preserve
the nation's life at that critical juncture. Every day from May 18 to July
4, 1863, the notable day of the surrender of Vicksburg, Mr. Schoenemann,
with his brave companions, was under fire, his last work prior to the
expiration of his term of service being an expedition to destroy bridges and
to prevent the advance of the enemy's army. He was honorably discharged in
August, 1864, having escaped both wounds and capture, although his clothing
was riddled with bullets.
Upon his return to civil life, Mr.
Schoenemann came to Macoupin County and after working for three years on a
farm, by the month, he bought 85 acres in Shelby County, which he operated
for three and a half years. He then came to his present excellent property
in Dorchester township, and engaged in its cultivation and improvement until
1891, when he retired to Bunker Hill, where he and his wife reside in great
comfort.
On February 23, 1868, Mr. Schoenemann was married to
Georgiana Wohlert, who was born in Holstein, Germany, and accompanied her
parents to America in 1866.
Mr. Schoenemann is not a pensioner of
the Civil War, but he is a valued member of J. M. Hubbard Post, No. 721, G.
A. R., of Bunker Hill, and also of the Harugari, a German order. In politics
he is a Republican.
Extracted 2018 May 06 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 110-112.
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